Throwdown: Showdown wrap-up
There was an impressive turnout for Throwdown: Showdown event in Utah County's McKay Event Center on Friday night, with organizers saying 4,000 tickets were sold. I haven't confirmed this, but Throwdown said they were told it broke the attendance record for a McKay sporting event.
The audience had quite a few young kids there, and for the most part it was a respectful bunch that only got restless a few times early on in the night. The fighters -- all Utahns except for Mike Whitehead in the main event -- all put on a great show.
The main event was a bit of a disappointment, though, as Provo's
Soakai Pulu (right) didn't even have a chance to challenge big-name heavyweight
"Iron" Mike Whitehead. Whitehead immediately came out and threw a high kick to the throat of Pulu. A few more kicks landed before
Whitehead (left) took Pulu down against the cage and moved from half guard to side mount, trapping Pulu's right arm under his legs as he maneuvered. A second later and Pulu was forced to tap due to a keylock at 59 seconds of the first round. Whitehead would later say he felt something pop in Pulu's arm even before he had the keylock fully applied.
In the middleweight championship match of the night,
"The Gentleman" Derek Downey (right) grappled for control along the cage with
"The Prodigy" Tim Panter before Downey won a takedown. He landed in half guard, threw a few punches and moved to mount before unloading some vicious head shots that knocked Panter out cold to claim the vacant belt at 1:30 of the first round.
In a hard-fought lightweight matchup,
Rad Martinez faced off with fellow wrestler
Travis "T-Train" Marx, a Utah Highway Patrolman. Martinez opened the bout with a good left hand before earning a big takedown against the cage. The wrestlers' strenghts canceled each other out for much of this fight, though both were able to take their oppenent down pretty regularly. By the end of the first, Martinez had a bloody nose.
The second round saw Marx (left) rush in to take advantage of a Martinez slip, which turned into a nice Muay Thai clinch and some knees for Martinez. Later in the round, Marx got in a few good knees and leg kicks, one of which hit a little too close to home. The ref called a timeout after an inadvertant crotch shot. The pair traded some punches after the restart and Marx ended the round bleeding from the nose, as well.
The third round was mostly a standup round, though only a few weaker punches connected. Martinez scored with a takedown but wasn't able to do much with it. All in all, this was a tough bout to score. Neither guy really dominated in any round, and both had their moments. The judges awarded a unaninmous decision, 29-28, to Travis Marx, who is likely to earn a spot to fight for a vacant Throwdown Elite lightweight belt in the near future.
In what was probably the prettiest submission of the night,
DaMarques Johnson worked from his guard to sink in an excellent triangle choke that forced
Harold "The Constrictor" Lucambio to tap out 1:53 into the first round.
Orem fighter
Dan "DJ Dan" Gardner whipped the hometown fans into a frenzy, working an early guillotine on Park City's
Casey "The Pitbull" Carter and eventually working his way into side control, where a few well-placed elbows to the head put "The Pitbull" to sleep at two minutes of the first round.
In an unfortunate injury-shortened fight that started off with a furious pace, doctors called the bout between
"Brutal" Casey Beckstead and
Camrann Pacheco after Pacheco accidentally sliced Beckstead's eyelid while the two battled in guard on the ground. Beckstead (left) was visibly upset with the stoppage, but there was nothing that could be done, and even five minutes later after leaving the cage he was holding his eye and wincing. This is a matchup that will get another chance once the injury heals, I'm sure.
An entertaining battle between
Craig "The Boss" Ross and
Dan Bishop went back and forth, with both fighters willing to stand and trade and Ross even connecting with a spinning backfist. Bishop really worked his takedowns and got a huge "Rampage" Jackson-style slam, a favor Ross returned a short time later. Ross then worked for mount while Bishop tried for an ankle lock. The fight came back to the feet and the two traded punches in the center of the cage. Bishop ended the round on top and raining down punches, probably doing enough there to win the exciting round in the eyes of the judges.
In the second round it was obvious both fighters were tired. They continued to trade punches, but the zip that was there in the first round had lost something in the second. The punching wasn't crisp, but these guys were showing lots of heart. Bishop eventually took Ross to the mat and continued to punch down, and while they weren't fight-ending shots, Ross was doing little more than covering up and the ref stopped the fight in Bishop's favor at 4:02 of the round.
The night also featured college and high school rivalry matchups, which were three three-minute rounds instead of the usual five. Those fights opened with Timpanogos'
Bryan Powell vs. Pleasant Grove's
Dallas Gates in which Gates completely dominated Powell on the ground. I'm not sure Powell even connected with a shot the entire nine minutes, but full marks to Gates for keeping control. He won the decision, which two judges scored 30-25 and the third scored 30-27.
Next up, Provo's
Kevin Farris and
Andrew Condus went back and forth in a somewhat uneventful match where Condus clearly was looking to win by kimura. He was able to do just that on the third or fourth try after Farris tapped at two minutes of round two.
The first fight of the night to really get the crowd into it was a matchup between BYU's
Ryan Miller and UVU's
Ramsey Nijem. Nijem looked impressive, taking Miller down and getting mount, then dropping a barrage of punches and elbows, opening Miller up (left). Miller gave his back up before scrambling back to his feet. Nijem continued the onslaught with his fists, took Miller back to the mat and nailed a rear naked choke to get the tap at 2:15 of round one.
The last of the rivalry matchups was the University of Utah's
T.J. Jones squaring off against BYU's
Adam Davis. Jones made quick work of Davis to get a tap by rear naked choke at 2:50 of the first round.
Overall, I was impressed with Throwdown Elite's first event. The fights were good, the atmosphere was good, the presentation was excellent, with fighter video bios introducing each match on a big screen before they came out. Even Mike Whitehead was impressed, saying, "This was by far the best first-time show I've ever been involved in." He had compliments for Johnny Riche, saying it was "kind of cheating" to put on a first show with Riche because of his experience with the Ultimate Combat Experience and his knowledge of what it takes to put on an event.
Throwdown's next McKay event is planned for late September right now, and there's talk of a show at the E Center between now and then. Fighters haven't been finalized for either show, so stay tuned and I'll let you know if I hear anything on that front.